Monday, 9 February 2009

Food is often central to Chinese celebratory occasions and Chinese new year is no different. Being officially 15 days, Chinese new year is a great excuse for family and friends to dine together and indulge in good food. The following was a meal that I had with my family and some relatives last week. We went across the border to Johor in Malaysia. Firstly, because it is often much cheaper for the same if not better quality of food. Secondly, some of my relatives were driving back to Kuala Lumpur that day and it made sense to have the meal where it was convenient for their onward journey.

Almost all Chinese new year menu start with Yu Sheng (鱼生), a raw fish salad that is traditionally eaten during the 7th day of the new year but has become ubiquitous throughout the full 15 days (and eve of). Ingredients include raw slices of mackeral or salmon, shredded carrots, daikon (white radish), orange peel, and red pickled ginger. I have written about this in my Chinese new year post last year.

Tossing the salad and saying good wishes to mark the start of an auspicious new year (with my shadow lying across the table... Ugh.)

And then a mysterious dish turned up, consisting of a dark log surrounded by broccoli florets and oyster sauce. A waitress snipped the log open with a pair of scissors...

... and revealed that it was a large sea cucumber that had been stuffed with a mixture of tofu, carrots, mushrooms and other vegetables. AP and I passed on the sea cucumber itself but happily munched on the filling.

There was also a dish of large king prawn with almonds

An enormous steamed fish (I forgot what type) with scary teeth

Kailan two ways: the stems were blanched and then stir fried with garlic; the leaves were roughly chopped and crispy fried.

Finally, a platter arrived with two huge Sri Lankan crab, cooked with salted egg yolk and curry leaves. Having crab always seem like such an occasion to me in the past few years as it was one of the top local (Singaporean/Malaysian) dishes I missed while living overseas. The freshness, size and prices are simply unbeaten anywhere else that I have lived.

Look at the size of them! I wasn't the only person taking photos.

Golden crab roe

Here was a crab claw next to one of the king prawns, which was dwarfed in comparison. My brother took a photo on his camera of me holding up the crab claw to my face, and I swear it was about half the size of my face.

The entire meal for 12 people came up to around 800 Ringgit (US$230). Unsurprisingly, the crab was the most expensive dish at just under 200 ringgit, but still very reasonable for its size and quality. The restaurant had received numerous awards for fine dining and is a popular venue for wedding receptions and other celebrations with separate function rooms for hire. For those who are interested, here are the contact details of the restaurant:

Today is officially the last day (fifteenth day) of the new year, known as Yuanxiao Jie (元宵节), or Chap Goh Mei in the Hokkien/Fujian dialect. Traditionally, it is another important occasion for a family reunion dinner, although not as crucial these days as the new year's eve dinner. If you have been celebrating Chinese new year the past two weeks, I hope you enjoyed the festivities, especially since many of us might be turning to dieting plans in the months ahead!